With summer come flies and with flies come.....

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A multitude of problems for your horses. Let's talk briefly about fly conjunctivitis. This is a condition where the mucosal surfaces of the eyelids get red and inflammed. One of the most common causes of this inflammation is fly infestation. During the summer in Florida flies are abundant. One way to control fly infestation around the eyes is a fly mask. It is important that the mask fit properly...not so tight that they can rub the skin and hair off, and not too lose that the flies can fly under them. Fly repellents (sprays and wipe-on preparations) can also help prevent the flies from landing on the eyes.

Summer sores are also a result of fly infestation. If a horse has an open wound, flies can deposit the habronema larvae into the compromised tissue, causing serious damage to the skin and sub-cutaneous tissues. And believe it or not, the flies can deposit these larvae into the healthy conjunctiva of eyes. The horse's body responds to this larvae with an inflammatory response, causing granules(eosinophillic granules) to form in the infected areas. These granules are very itchy and irritating to the horse, and must be removed to allow the tissue to become less inflammed and itchy and thus allow healing to begin. Just yesterday, I was debriding these granules from the conjunctiva of a horse's eye. Summer sores can appear anywhere on a horse's body.

Many horses are allergic to fly bites. These horses can have a very difficult time in Florida during the summer months. The owners will notice multiple bumps on the horse's body. A good fly wipe or spray as well as a fly sheet will help aid in preventing fly bites. Some fly sheets come with neck, belly, and tail protectors.

There are numerous fly prevention products on the market that help limit flies from breeding on your property. I am sure many of you have heard about the different insect growth regulators that are available as a feed-through, or that are applied topically to heavy breeding areas of the barn and surrounding property.

Not only are flies a nuisance for your horses, but other types of insects can be a nuisance as well.. Culicoides are these tiny gnat-like bugs that come out during dusk. Many horses can be extremely allergic to their saliva. Mosquitoes carry diseased such as EEE, WEE, VEE, and West Nile virus. These diseases can be transmitted to your horses via mosquitoe bites. Horse and deer flies can deliver a nice sting to your horse, potentially causing them to spook when you are riding, or standing close to them..thus leading to potential disasterous effects. And of course, we, ourselves, do not like being bit and pestered by flying insects.

Talk to your veterinarian about the available reputable fly protection and prevention products on the market. I am sure they have their favorites, as do I. Please feel free to contact me anytime on my cell at 561-324-6702 if you have any fly control questions or other veterinary questions.

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LETS TALK ABOUT COLIC....

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Lately, I have been treating a lot of colic cases, so I thought I would write an article on colic. The definition of colic is belly pain, or abdominal pain. Colic can be caused by many factors such as excessive gas trapped in the intestines, ulcers in the stomach or intestines, displaced intestines, twisted intestines,sand or fecal impactions and enteroliths(stones) in the intestines. Liver and kidney maladies may also cause colic signs. Clinical signs of colic include inappetance, laying down, parking out, pawing, circling, rolling, and/or grinding teeth. If your horse shows signs of colic, the best thing to do is call your vet. There are a few things you can check out prior to calling the vet, such as temperature, gut sounds, heart rate and mucous membrane color. These pieces of information may help your vet determine if he/she should come out ASAP. The treatment for colic is typically banamine, sedatives, and either oral or IV fluids, oral mineral oil, epsom salts orally, and electrolytes orally and /or IV unless surgery is necessary to correct the issue. If I know that I am going out to treat a colic, I recommend that my client not give any pain medications as they may mask temperature, pain level, heart rate, and other important parameters I may need to diagnose the severity of the problem. I also recommend removing any food sources, as we do not want to add insult to injury if there is a back up of feed material in the intestines. There are a few things you as an owner can do to prevent colic. Excercise keeps the guts moving, a constant hay or grass source also promotes gut movement. Access to water at all times will help prevent blockages. Psyllium supplements also help carry out sand that may get lodged in the gut. If you have any questions on your horse's health, you are always welcome to call me at 561 324 6702. Eileen Gesoff

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A WORD ABOUT “CHOKE”

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What is “choke”? Choke is an esophageal obstruction… In laymen’s terms, something stuck in the esophagus, the “pipe” that carries food to the stomach from the mouth. Causes of choke are: eating too fast, not chewing up food into small enough pieces before swallowing, eating foreign objects that get “stuck” in the esophagus. It is important to remember that horses that are choking can still breathe. It does not affect the trachea, which is the “pipe” that carries air from the nose and mouth to the lungs. Some horses can resolve their choke without intervention before the owner realizes it has even happened! Others may not be so lucky. My rule of thumb is the following: If the horse is still choking after 30 minutes, chances are, you will need medical intervention to resolve the obstruction.
Clinical signs of choke are stretching out the neck, saliva and feed material exiting through the nose and mouth, coughing, and possible signs of stress. Treatment is aimed at keeping the head down towards the ground to prevent aspiration pneumonia (infection caused by food exiting esophagus and making a “u-turn” down the trachea towards the lungs), and ultimately, passing the obstruction down the esophagus into the stomach. How is this achieved? Well, first we tranquilize the horse to get his head down towards the ground. Veterinarians may also give some oxytocin to help relax the esophageal muscles. We then attempt to pass a nasogastric tube into the esophagus to push the obstruction into the stomach. If we cannot push the obstruction down the esophagus, we then try to flush out the material by pumping water through the tube and then allowing the food material to come back out the tube and esophagus onto the ground. One must be careful to keep the head as close to the ground as possible to prevent aspiration pneumonia. If this technique is unsuccessful, then the next option is surgical intervention. The surgeon cuts through the skin into the esophagus and manually removes the obstruction. This can be an expensive option. Fortunately, I have not needed to refer any patients for surgical intervention in my career. I have treated chokes that were caused by hay, pellets, and alfalfa cubes. The most difficult ones to treat for me have been the cubes… The patients I have treated for hay cube obstructions were all geriatric horses. Their teeth may not have been in the greatest condition, and they were unable to completely chew the cube before swallowing it. I have had younger horses get pellet and hay obstructions, presumably a result of eating too fast. For me, pellet and hay obstructions are much less labor intensive than hay cube obstructions. I have spent many hours trying to flush out cubes before resolving the obstruction. It is important after resolving the obstruction to put the patient on antibiotics to help prevent aspiration pneumonia. The most important take home message for my readers is this: It is very risky to feed whole hay cubes to geriatric horses unless they have been soaked to the point where they are completely dissolved. And dental maintenance is an integral part of your horse’s health. It may prevent a life-threatening choke among other issues in the future. If you have any questions, as always, please feel free to contact me at 561-324-6702 to discuss your horse’s health needs.

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BACK TO THE BASICS....

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Veterinarians usually assume that their clients know normal values for their horses’ heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, and gut sounds. We also sometimes assume our clients know the appropriate de-worming and vaccination schedules for their horses. My recent experiences have told me that this is not always the case. Therefore, I thought it would be beneficial to you as horse owners to review some of the basics.
According to the Manual of Equine Practice, normal values for an adult horse’s heart rate(HR) is between 28 and 36 beats per minute(BPM) at rest, and 70 to 100 beats per minute for a foal in the first few days of life. I, however have found normals to be sometimes higher than 36 BPM in many horses, usually closer to 44 BPM. I think a good rule of thumb is the following: If you think your horse is in pain (ie: colic), a HR above 60 in a resting horse is reason for concern, and a call to the veterinarian may be in order.
This same manual also suggests a normal respiratory rate (RR) to be in the range of 8-16 breaths per minute at rest. Again, I have witnessed higher RR than those previously stated, up to 26 or so. Therefore, a good rule of thumb for determining if your horse is in pain or respiratory distress in my opinion would be a RR greater than 36. Horses with heaves(COPD) or horses with high temperatures from heat stroke(non-sweaters) or bacterial and viral infections will have an increased RR.
In my opinion, normal temperatures in an adult horse will run up to 101.0 at rest. A horse’s body core temperature may go up with exercise, so make sure you check temperatures after your horse is “cooled out” or is at rest.
Normal frequency of gut sounds vary, but I would be comfortable with sounds heard at a frequency of every 30 seconds. Decreased gut sounds could be a sign of ileus, which may lead to signs of colic. Ileus could also be a result of an obstruction or blockage. Increased gut sounds may lead to or be due to diarrhea.
If and when you have time in your busy schedule, it may be a good idea to check your horse’s normal values so that you may have a baseline to which you can refer if your horse becomes ill in the future.
De-worming schedules in Florida are usually consistent at every 6-8 weeks or as per your veterinarian’s recommendation. Some of my clients remember to de-worm their horses when the farrier visits. Alternating de-wormers is a good practice to prevent parasite resistance. There are commercial wormers on the market that contain praziquantel to treat tape worms along with the traditional ivermectin or moxidectin or pyrantel. These de-wormers which contain the praziquantel may routinely be given every 6 months in Florida. During the other times, de-wormers not containing praziquantel are sufficient.
Vaccine schedules depend on what your horse does for a living, and how much traveling he may be doing, and how many other horses to which he is exposed. Horses in areas with previous cases of Strangles (Strep Equi) outbreaks should be vaccinated yearly for Strangles.. If your horse travels frequently to areas where you do not know the history of the farms or barns, it is always a good idea to be safe and vaccinate. Rabies is a yearly vaccine also. An EPM vaccine is commercially available. This is also a yearly vaccine if you elect to vaccinate for EPM. Tetanus is a yearly vaccine, but it always comes in the 3,4 or 5 in one vaccines, so your horse usually gets it as a “bonus” when he is vaccinated for his Eastern and Western encephalomyelitis. E. and W. encephalomyelitis have birds as their reservoir host, with mosquitoes being responsible for the spread of the virus to horses. In Florida, since mosquito season is year round, I recommend that the Eastern and Western encephalomyelitis vaccines be given every 6 months. West Nile vaccines may be given every 6 months to a year depending on the brand. West Nile
virus is also transmitted via mosquitoes and causes encephalomyelitis type symptoms in horses. In Florida, I routinely administer the West Nile vaccine every 6 months in conjunction with the Eastern and Western Encephalomyelitis vaccine. Influenza and Rhino (EHV) should be given every 2-3 months for horses on the racetrack or at training centers where there are numerous horses within a small radius. It is my recommendation that horses that live at home, but frequent shows regularly, should be vaccinated for Flu/Rhino every 4 months. Those backyard horses that do not leave the property very often can be vaccinated for Flu/Rhino every 6 months as a combination shot with the EWT(E. and W. encephalomyelitis and tetanus). I refer to this combination shot as a “5 in one” shot. Please keep in mind that every veterinarian has his or her own vaccination schedule that they like to follow. This is just one veterinarian’s opinion. A coggins test should be performed annually on all horses to determine if they are positive for Equine Infectious Anemia.
If you would like to get your horses up to date on their vaccinations and/or coggins test, as always, please feel free to call me at 561-324-6702 to make an appointment. Have a safe and healthy holiday season.

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EASTERN ENCEPHALITIS VIRUS..THE FACTS

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OK.. So I am sure you have all heard that we have recently had a horse succumb to the EEE virus locally. The question of the day is: “How often do we need to vaccinate our horses?”. Before I get to the answer, I would like to briefly touch on what EEE is, the clinical signs, treatment, and then prevention measures.
EEE, along with West Nile virus and St. Louis Encephalitis(SLE), belongs to the arbovirus family. Arboviral diseases are caused by arthropods such as mosquitoes, ticks, mites, and midges. The EEE virus is carried by wild birds and mosquitoes. The mosquitoes bite the infected wild birds, and then transmit the virus to horses by biting them. The virus cannot be transmitted directly from an infected horse to other horses or people.
EEE is mostly found in states along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, causing clinical cases in unvaccinated equines every summer in Florida. After a horse is bit by an infected mosquito, it can take up to 3-7 days before the onset of clinical signs. Clinical signs are acute onset of fever, headaches, disorientation, lethargy, convulsions, in-coordination, stumbling, head pressing, circling, coma, and usually death. Treatment is supportive therapy, which basically means fluid therapy and non-steroidal antiinflammatory medication to keep the fevers under control. However, EEE is 90% fatal in horses showing active clinical neurologic signs.
So, how can we prevent our furry friends from contracting this horrible virus? The answer is twofold: VACCINATIONS AND MOSQUITO CONTROL! How do we accomplish adequate mosquito control in an area like Florida where some refer to the mosquito as the “state bird?” Well, since mosquitoes love to breed in standing water(they can breed in less than 4 days), make sure all of your water buckets are changed frequently, empty the water out of standing wheelbarrows, old tires, buckets, plastic tarps, empty containers, and clogged gutters. Fans in barns help keep mosquitoes out of the line of airflow. Limit your horses turnout during dawn and dusk when mosquito activity is at a premium. Spray your horse with an approved mosquito repellent Use fly sheets and masks if your horse will tolerate them.
OK. Let’s get to the question you all are waiting for me to answer….How often should we vaccinate to keep our equines safe? After doing some research and talking with veterinarians that are employed by the leading vaccine manufacturers, I was surprised to hear that there are no vaccine challenge studies for EEE that would help guide us as to how long the EEE vaccine is considered efficacious. I recently attended a presentation on the latest vaccine and deworming protocols for Florida horses as established by the American Association of Equine Practitioners. Combination Encephalitis vaccines and the West Nile vaccine are two of the three “core” vaccines we routinely administer in Florida. The standard recommendation in Florida is to administer these two vaccines every 6 months. The method used to decide the frequency of administration is based on clinical cases and their previous vaccination history. Historically, EEE clinical signs have rarely been seen in horses vaccinated at 6 month or less intervals. Most horses clinically affected have either never been vaccinated, or have not been vaccinated for over 6 months. Therefore, the USDA recommends a bi-annual vaccine schedule for the Encephalitis vaccines in Florida. Previous reports over the last few years show that horses that break with clinical signs at less than 6 months post vaccination could fall into a bell curve of poor responders to most likely any vaccine. These horses that poorly respond to vaccines may be horses that are immuno-suppressed from stress from hard work, heavy traveling, or other natural causes of immuno-supression. Would it be prudent to give these naturally immuno-suppressed horses a tri-annual Encephalitis vaccine schedule? In the face of an eminent threat of disease or possible outbreak, this may not be such a bad idea.. But recommendations such as the latter should be based on a case by case risk assessment of individual animals. By the way, the third “core” vaccine given in Florida is Rabies, which is administered once a year.

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HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS FOR HORSEOWNERS

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In the wake of the potential tropical storm Erica, I thought it would be prudent to write an article on hurricane awareness for horseowners. Many of the previsions I will talk about may be common sense to some, and others may have more to add to this article. I would like to discuss some of the things that we as horseowners can do ahead of time to prepare ourselves and our furry friends for the unlikely event of a hurricane.
Firstly, it may be a good idea to have a current coggins test, since this is required for shipment or transport of any horse to any facility. Most facilities will require a negative coggins upon entry, and one can get stopped by police on rare occasion for a coggins check when transporting horses. It may also be prudent to have your horse up to date on vaccines, since Influenza and Rhino are commonly caught at large facilities that harbor multiple horses, and with a lot of rain comes mosquitoes that may carry the EEE or West Nile viruses.
You may want to make sure you are stocked up on some banamine in case of the unlikely event your horse has a colic or eye issue and the vet cannot come right away. Bandage material is always helpful in case your horse gets upset during storms and gets injured from spooking, either in or out of the stall. Some of my owners request Ace Promazine pills or liquid as a sedative to give to their nervous horses that will be stalled during a storm. Stock up on your favorite fly spray in case the mosquitoes get out of control.
Make sure you have an adequate water supply in case the power goes off and subsequently, you have no functional water pump. Of course, make sure you are stocked up on hay and grain for at least a week or so in case the stores are closed, or there is no access to them via the roadway. shavings supplies should be checked as well.
Remove all detached debris that is in your pastures and paddock areas, as they may be pickup up by wind, turning them into lethal objects.
You may want to braid a waterproof identification tag into your horse's mane or tail, or use nail polish on their hooves for identification.. Some owners spray paint their phone numbers on the side of their horses butt.
Put your horses where they will be the safest, whether that is in a stall in a barn, or an open pasture without trees or debris. Horses will lay down in open fields if necessary, and allow the wind to blow over them if they have no shelter. In severe cases, have an exit strategy in case you need to move your horse to another location.
I could probably go on and on, but I do not want to take up the entire page of this paper, so if you have any other questions pertaining to this article, or your horse's health, please feel free to call your vet or myself at 561-324-6702. Dr. Eileen Gesoff

Palm Beach Horse Vet.

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Palm Beach Horse Vet

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